Grain-car



' S. DUKES.

. -GRAIN CAR. v

APPLICATION. FILED DEC. l0 |919- 1,371,877. l raten@ 1111.111921.

, 3 SHEETS-@WEI l.

S. DUKES.

GRAIN CAR.

` l APPLICATION FiLED DEC. 1D. 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEE 3.

Pamnmd Mar. 15,' 1921.

STTS

bil" FFlCE.

SANDY EURES, OE BEAUMONETEXAS.

GRAN-CAR.

intiem.

Application filed December 10, 1818. Serial No. 343,762.

To all 'w hom t may concern Be it knoivn that l, SANDY Donne, aciti- Zenof the United States, residing at Beaumont, in the county of Jeifersonand State of Texas, have invented certain neiv' and useful improvementsin GrainCars; and l. do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention7 such as ivill enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesaine.

rl`his invention relates to grain cars and the principal object of the.invention is to provide an improved floor and bottom construction, thefloor being provided ivith removable trap doors which may beput in placeWhen the car is to be used for carrying ordinary freight and which Willbe removed and placed against side Walls when the car is to be used forcarrying grain.

Another object of the invention is to provide the bottom of the carwitha construction ivhich Will cause the grain to feed out through sideopenings in the car and to further provide'tlie bottom with drop doorswhich will be removably held in 'position and which may be releasedVwhen it is desired to empty the car rapidly With the grain droppingbeneath the car to a pit or hopper.

Another ob'eet of the invention is to so construct this car that ifdesired it may be emptied through the medium of a screw conveyer whichwill be inserted to one of the side. openings `of the car.

another object of theinvention is to so construct this improved car thatfreight cars already in use may be easily converted into the improvedcar construction.

Another object of the invention is to so construct this car that it Willbe strong and durable and at the same time comparatively simple inconstruction.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:`

Figure l is a side elevation of the improved grain car.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan vievv of the car.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the car.

Fig. i is a vertically extending longitudinal section through the car.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the car taken through the centralportion thereof.

6 is a detail showing one of the drop doors and the fastening means forreleasably retaining the same in a raised position.

This grain car is provided With a body having side Walls 10, and Walls11, a Hooring l2, and a roof 13 which roof is provided with the usualrunning boiard lei and will be provided with inlet openings throughwhich spouts may be passed thus permitting the cai" to be easily filledwith grain. The side Walls are provided with the usual doorways whichwill be closed by the sliding doors-16. lt will thus be seen that thebody portion of this freight car vvill have a conventional freight carconstruction. lf desired the end walls may be provided With door ivaysthrough which bulky articles may be passed.' v Y The flooring l2 Will bebraced by the'usu al longitudinally extending beams or sills `17 andcross beams i8 and the flooring Will' be eut out as shovvn in Fig. Svthus providing a central opening 19 and end openings 2() which leadfrom the central opening 19 to ward the ends of the car. Covers 2l and22 are provided for the central and end openings and will be providedwith lifting so that these covers 'may be easily removed When desired.llihen in place these covers rest upon the beams 17 and i8 and thereforewill be iirmly supported When in place. lWhen these covers are in placethe car may be used as an ordinary freight car. l-lilhen it is desiredto use the `car as a gram 'car the covers will be removed and placedalong the'sides of the oar Where they may be easily reached when the cais empty and it is desired to put them back in alace.

fr second or outcrbottom V24e is provided for this freight car' and willbe preferably formed of 'heavy sheet vmetal which will be riveted orotherwise securely connected with the side plates 25 and ivill'be xed'atan inoline from the en'dportions of the cartoward the central portion.rIhe central portion of the bottom will be fixed at an incline from thecenter of the car toward the sides thereof and it will thus be seen thatgrain flowing through the openingslin the flooring will be fed towardthe central portion of the bottom and Will then flow toward the sides ofthe car thus permittingthe grain to feed out through the doorways 26formed in the side plates 25 beneath the doorways 15 and normally closedby the doors 27.. These doors 27 will only be open in case it is desiredto feed gra-in through the doo1`- with `into the car through the sidedoors.

ways 26 into sacks or other small receptacles or when it is desired toinsert a screw eonveyer into the car thromgh one of these doorways. Thebottom will be provided a central opening 28 positioned bethe centralopening 19 of the flooring with longitudinally extending end openings 29which are positioned lbeneath the end openings 20. Dropdoors 30 and 31are provided for the openings 28 and29 and are hingedly mounted so thatthey may be swung down to an open position. When closed the doors 30 and3l are made secure by suitable latch or fastening means 32 as indicated.in the several views and more particularly inFig. 6.

Then this car is in use as an ordinary .freight car the covers 2l and 22will be put in place and a solid flooring will be provided. Ordinaryfreight can then be put Then it is desired to load grain the covers 2land 22 will be removed .and set up against the side walls of the carthus leaving a clear passage through the iiooring to the sheet metalbottom of the ear. The side doors will be closed and the grain will befed into the car through the openings formed in the roof. lVlien it isdesired to unload the ear the drop doors may be opened and the grainpassed 'through the bottom oi the car into a hopperor pit. It is ofcourse understood that all of these doors do not have to be open unlessso desired. Ifit is desired to remove the grain from the ycar throughthe medium of a screw conveyer one of the doors 26 may be opened and thescrew conveyer inserted through thedoor. The grain will feed toward thisconveyer due to the sloping of Vthe bottom. One of the doors may also beopened in case it is desired to lill sacks directly from the car and thegrain will flow out of the side openings into the. sack. `There hastherefore been provided a freight car which can be easily converted intoa grain car and which can bei easily and quickly emptied and thellooring boards 0r Acovers put back in place thus returning the car toits original appearance as an ordineath nary freight car.

`What is claimed is l. A freight car com1nising a body having a flooringprovided with a central opening and with end openings extendinglongitudinally of the flooring and leading from the central opening,removable covers for the openings in the iiooring, a bottom positionedin spaced relation beneath the flooring and having its end portionssloping ,downwardly toward the central portion and having its centralportion vsloping from the center of the ear toward the sides thereof,said bottom being provided with openings positioned beneath the centraland end openings of the flooring, drop doors for closing the openings ofthe bottom hingedly connected with the bottom and releasably held in anelevated position for closing the openings in the bottom, side platespositioned between the iiooring and the sides of said. bottom andprovided intermediate their length with outlet openings, the inclinedintermediate portions of the bottom serving to direct grain toward theopenings of the side plates, and removable closures for the openings inthe side plates.

2. A'car body having an inclosed space below its bottom, the bottom ofthe inclosed space having its centra-l portion oppositely inclined. froma median longitudinal line and provided with lower and outer dischargeopenings and having its end portions upwardly inclined toward the endsof the car and provided in its side portions with openings, and closuresfor the several openings.

3. A car body having an inelosed space below its floor, the bottom oithe inelosed space having its central portion oppositely inclined from amedian longitudinal line and provided with lower and outer diS- ehargeopenings and having its end portions upwardly inclined toward the lendsof the car and provided in its side portions with openings, the door ofthe car having openings corresponding with the openings Vin the bottomof the said inclosed space, and elosures for the several openings inboth of the saidlbottom and floor.

Intestimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SANDY DUKES. fitnesses 2 NOAH C. WHITE, C. T.' DUFF.

